Born Mar. 13, 1842, in Saint-André-de-Sangonis; died Feb. 19, 1929, in Paris. French scientist and engineer. Member of the Paris Academy of Sciences (1886). Doctor (1867) and professor (1886) at the University of Paris.
Boussinesq wrote a series of outstanding works on hydrodynamics, optics, thermodynamics, and the theory of elasticity. The most important method that he proposed was the determination of stress and strain in a semi-infinite medium, under the action of given forces applied to its boundary plane.